Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun Any of various cacti of the genus Opuntia of the Americas, having stems with flat or cylindrical jointed segments and small easily detached spines, and including the chollas and the prickly pears.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun Opuntia, a genus of cactus that includes such cacti as the prickly pear and xoconostle.

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Latin (herba) Opūntia, Opuntian (herb), feminine of Opūntius, of Opus, an ancient town of east-central Greece, from Opūs, Opūnt-, Opus, from Greek Opous, Opount-.]

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Examples

  • Another kind of opuntia fruit, this one tastes sour and is used as a seasoning in certain meat stews, especially mole de olla.

    Exotic summer refreshment: a guide to Mexico's tropical fruit 2007

  • Another kind of opuntia fruit, this one tastes sour and is used as a seasoning in certain meat stews, especially mole de olla.

    Exotic summer refreshment: a guide to Mexico's tropical fruit 2007

  • It's hard to tell because of the lush growth, but this is actually wall planted with all sorts of horticultural delights: even an opuntia!

    Powell Gardens, part 1 « Sugar Creek Gardens’ Blog 2009

  • Coastal wetlands are also characteristic of this ecoregion, and near the first foothills of the western range there are some arid, rocky scrublands with abrupt relief, where columnar, candelabra and opuntia cacti typically grow.

    Sechura desert 2008

  • Known in English as the "prickly pear" cactus, this member of the opuntia genus produces the vegetable called nopal, sometimes referred to as "cactus paddles" in the Southwestern United States, and the fruit called tuna.

    Cooking with Cactus: Nopales Cactus 2006

  • Known in English as the "prickly pear" cactus, this member of the opuntia genus produces the vegetable called nopal, sometimes referred to as "cactus paddles" in the Southwestern United States, and the fruit called tuna.

    Cooking with Cactus: Nopales Cactus 2006

  • Turtle looked up at the darkness between the wire lines and clothespins and observed the shadow play of the beavertail opuntia cactus on the sheets and thought perhaps they had, the nopal and she, something in common.

    Their Dogs Came With Them Helena María Viramontes 2007

  • His graying mustache bristled like the spine needles of the opuntia cactus.

    Their Dogs Came With Them Helena María Viramontes 2007

  • Halimeda opuntia and Dictyota species occur on the fore reef and the intermediate reef.

    Coral reefs in Florida 2007

  • LERICI, C.R. and CAPELLA, P. (1976) Caratteri chimici del fico d’lndia (Cactus opuntia).

    Chapter 5 1953

Comments

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  • Usage/historical note in comment on nopalry. Additionally...


    "Many European nations had successfully obtained the insect's favorite food, the opuntia, and by 1600 the cactus grew wild in Spain and flourished in botanical gardens in Italy, Germany, the Netherlands, and England. But the cochineal insect itself was a different matter."

    Amy Butler Greenfield, <i>A Perfect Red: Empire, Espionage, and the Quest for the Color of Desire</i> (New York: Harper Collins, 2005), 167.

    October 5, 2017